Then I suppose the north to the city are open fields right? There should be plenty of bushes dotting the landscape. Smash them into underbrushes, then examine them. Depending on the season, you may get bird/reptile eggs, wild veggies, mushrooms, wild herbs, buckwheat, etc. You also grind your survival skill this way.
And you can just go around the city if you want to reach the forest, you know. And there are less monsters outside of cities. Any that you will encounter are just about guaranteed to have less of a vision range than you. You’ll see them first before they see you. Just toggle the safemode to be sure. Detour around monsters you can’t fight yet.
Or you can just loot the south end of the city at night. Easier to avoid zombies that way. Make a makeshift crowbar out of a pipe and a rock if you don’t already have one. Prying open doors and windows are much quieter than smashing them open. Very much useful for nightly looting runs.
