In a Laymon novel, no one is safe. Because that's the way life is. Good guys don't make it. We learn this over and over, and we've just learned it again. And sometimes good guys turn bad, while bad guys end up heroes.
Life is unpredictable.
So is death. Of course there is a reason the black rain falls. It's there all along, and we may realize we should have seen it. Maybe we're astute enough to guess the reason, and if we did it in no way lessens the impact of those falling drops and what they signify. A Laymon novel is all about people.