Swamped

"My first thought: They just opened fire on us, with no warning. They only tried to negotiate when we threatened to destroy the thing they're after. So my gut instinct is, they have no qualms about killing us once they have what they want. The only way they'll give up after that is if they think we're not worth messing with... and let's be honest, you and I are the only ones here with much combat experience. Well, I don't know about Pubert, but I'm not planning on untying them if we can help it, so that's a moot point."

"So you wouldn't recommend stopping, then?"

"Well, my second thought is, they'll keep chasing us all night if they have to. Since it seems they really want this rock. Even if I could think of something to protect you and the horse, they'd attack the camp. So: just running, not a great solution either."

"I see. And what alternatives do you see?"

"We could just toss the rock out. Don't know if that'd be bad, but it might distract them for a bit. Then again, they might just keep shooting out of spite. So basically, I don't see a good way out of this."

"Thank you. Your opinion has been quite valuable," Rider says. "Please get back inside while I stop the wagon."

"What?"

Rider turns to you.

"I was planning to just run, but you made me aware of another option," he says. "You suggested they might give up their attack if they consider us too much of a threat to continue fighting."

Hells, of course he's doing it this way. Always got to be the tough guy.

And there's no way you're convincing him otherwise. Not at this point. You head back into the wagon. You're stuck with this scheme now, so you might as well figure out what you can do to improve the odds.