He was shielding his son from what was ahead of them. He had no (reasonable)reason to shield his son from what was behind them.
"...He was shielding his son from what was ahead of them. He had no (reasonable)reason to shield his son from what was behind them..." Nothing personal Sabra, I believe that you're sincere here.
But I'm going to go with what my 'lying eyes' saw on this.