Having read THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE, the significance of touch has become an obvious core element of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. Boundaries—not just the big one of Infection/Clean which drives any zombie story, but of *physical contact*—are hugely important.
The first and most obvious of these is when Miss Justineau touches Melanie's hair. In THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE, Stephen has a strong aversion to being touched or in close proximity with others. The one-finger-hug between him and Rina plays counterpoint to that moment of touch between Miss J and Melanie; the rest of the story, in some fashion, hangs in the space between those two points of contact.
