It's reasonable to understand why someone wouldn't be crazy about playing paintball. First of all, you will get hit with a paintball, and it will hurt, at least a little bit. There's also the fact that you may be all by yourself out there, facing off against friends or strangers more skilled or experienced than you are. Also, it can get stuffy inside those facemasks.

But what if you could take the best part of paintball games — splattering things with exploding orbs of bright paint—and combine it with something like sitting down, or riding in a covered truck, or battling hordes of the undead? Then you would have zombie paintball, one of the most fun fall activities out there. Click the banner below to find a deal on zombie paintball near you, then read on for five reasons why you should try it, even if you're not normally a paintballing pro.

1. You get to live out your wildest zombie-apocalypse dreams.

Just about any zombie paintball arena will present you with a post-apocalyptic narrative for you to dive into. Most places put you in the shoes of a specialized task force assigned to clear out a contaminated wasteland of zombies. Some (like Odyssey Fun World in Tinley Park, IL) even feature actors playing the part of your commanding officer, who guides you along the way. Get your Rick Grimes impression ready.

2. You won't get shot.

That's right. No masks, no padding, no painful bruises the next day. Since the zombies are unarmed, you won't have to worry about taking cover or toughing it out through a particularly painful shot. Best yet, not being shot means you won't be eliminated from the game.

3. You won't have to outrun anybody.

Turn on any zombie movie or TV show and you'll see people sprinting away from undead antagonists. But when you go zombie paintballing, you won't have to worry about building up your cardio endurance beforehand. That's because you'll be picking off zombies from the comfort of a converted wagon or military cargo truck outfitted with benches and mounted paintball guns for each rider.

4. You'll have backup.

Squaring off against teams of fellow paintballers can feel intimidating, especially if you've never been on a course before. That goes double if your teammates start getting eliminated during a round. With zombie paintball, though, you and your team of post-apocalyptic warriors stick together the whole time, blasting away until the ride's over.

5. You'll shoot at "real" zombies.

Typically, there's no tin bull's-eye targets or paper cutouts here. Zombie paintball dispatches real, breathing, moving targets for you to douse with paint. Some zealous actors in those suits have even been known to climb onto the sides of the moving wagon, adding a sense of spooky realism to the experience.