Fascination or Preparation?

The part about zombie fiction that I find to be so utterly enveloping, is that no one alive has presumably seen a zombie. I know that that is a big step to take, especially for some of the folks who are more entrenched in zombie lore, but I'm willing to be a little edgy here. As zombies are so firmly in the realm of metaphor, the exploration of their existence, and the human response to said existence, is understandable. I would even argue that the aspects of the human condition which we can only find when we face death (zombies), make the textual investigation of them beneficial for society. However, weeks ago I found myself in the gun section of Dick's Sporting Goods (let's not talk about why), and I found these:

I've gathered that these are regular air-soft pellets which have been coated in a special 'serum' which makes them either a cure for the infection, or a weapon against the infected. I think the way this would play out involved a certain number of “zombies” and a certain number of “humans” using the different colored pellets to fire at one another. Presumably, the humans would be more numerous at the start of the game, as once a human has been tagged with the 'zombie-serum', they become infected themselves. Conversely, once a zombie is tagged with the 'cure' they are out of the game. This is equivalent to a Darrel's crossbow bolt to the skull, in our zombified air-soft fictional world.

While this is certainly an interesting twist on the idea of an air-soft match, I'm interested in the blurring of the lines between the fictional aspects of zombie lore, and the internalized preparation that we engage in. You could argue that the creation of these pellets are a gimmick aimed at zombie fans, but I think a certain amount of tactical preparation is occurring. I would argue that the “rules” section of this blog, as well as many of the posts, would fall into this category. Within these bounds, we are no longer discussing the pieces of zombie lore that work to illuminate aspects of our own world. We are instead taking mental notes on what to do if/when the zombie outbreak did occur. Which brings me to the question, when do you think the line was transgressed? At what point does the study of the human condition become the investigation of just which folks we should make sure to have in our group? I do not exclude myself from this: I know I've found myself considering just which section of Bailey Howe I'm claiming when we board up the doors and finally rip out that damn alarm.