Why does Ives consider him and amabelle lucky to have survived the night?

The weathewr was cold and their were armed men on trails. After walking the mountain trail all night Yves and Amabelle reach a crossroads where one trail leads further into the mountains and another winds back down into the valley. On the lower trail an oxen cart is stuck in the mud. The wagon is loaded with bodies, one of which falls out and rolls down the hill. The armed men beat a moving body until it is still and carry on pulling the cart down the trail.