I've definitely watched playthroughs of people who have skipped the intro in the first stage and found the muncies, and I've never had that bug before. It's possible you found a strange bug, but if it is a bug, it shouldn't exist it you restart the application.
They can be pretty quiet if you're at the wrong end of the map, I'd recommend getting the radio activated and try listening near the safe zone while turning slowly in different directions.
If it's still dead silent, you definitely have a haunted version of the game. O_O