"Not a bad idea, do a thorough sweep of small sections of the forest. With the totality of the darkness out there we'll need to almost stumble over them to find anyone. But it's worth a try." His thought process is nearly the same. If they don't exhaust every possibility he'll feel like they failed anyone who might have survived.

"We still have time to find survivors. At least no one will starve to death before we rescue them."

Maybe the only benefit to being dead.