"Ella! It's the undead! Fetch me the axe!"

Her stepmum's shrill voice startled Ella, and she dropped the armful of wet clothes she had been hanging up to dry.

The undead! Ella ran to the wood pile, tugged her father's long-handled axe from the stump he used as a chopping block,

and ran in the back door to the house. There was a great commotion at the front entry,

with Stepmum leaning her fat body against the door that shuddered from the blows of something trying to force its way in.

Ella's two stepsisters were at the bottom of the stairs, hugging each other for solace that neither would give, squealing like pigs.

"Here's the axe," Ella blurted, holding the axe away from her as if it were a snake about to strike.