Yipes this is twisted. This main character did a very bad thing. The interaction with the dog had me fooled until the mention that the light behind them is not dawn but the light from a massive fire. That escalates the whole thing a level beyond on the creep factor. I thought at first maybe a bar fight or a little bitty murder of someone. The fire makes it sound like he painted an entire town red with their own blood and then burned it to the ground. I can't see anything that could have made someone think that the actions were justified.