We make it through an entire chapter without anything supernatural happening, so it's startling when a creature rushes out with super speed to save Nick. This will become commonplace by the end of the book, but Kyrian's debut is a dramatic one. And while the book doesn't explicitly say Kyrian's supernatural, he's faster than Usain Bolt, so you know something is up.

Nick isn't used to people treating his mother with respect. She is a stripper, so people generally treat her like nobody, or worse. But Kyrian sees her as a person, either because he's not the type of guy to dehumanize strippers or because he knows she is the mother of Nick, who could one day becomes a powerful being.

Alan is a bad guy because he takes joy in the violence he commits. When Nick was fighting at school, he didn't seem to enjoy it. That's one thing that makes Nick different from the zombies and the bullies.

Nick's mom feels very guilty that she can't provide more for her son. Her guilt about being poor is made worse when Nick gets hurt. She thinks he got hurt because he has to work a part-time job; if she had more money, he could just be a kid like the other kids and stay out of trouble.

Okay, Nick's mom loves him. That's sweet. But this is a little intense, and it maybe borders on co-dependency. How will Nick's mom react when he finally moves out of her house? Maybe they both have a little growing up to do.