Oliver is Left for Dead

As the household raises the alarm and pursuers close in, Sikes and Crackit carry the wounded Oliver across the fields. When they realize he is badly hurt and slowing them down, they abandon him in a ditch, believing him to be dead or dying. Sikes and Crackit then separate and flee for their own lives. Oliver lies alone, unconscious and bleeding, in the cold, wet ditch. This moment of utter abandonment is the lowest point in Oliver's journey, but it also sets the stage for his rescue by the very people he was forced to rob.