Hal Ward is a character in the novel Final Destination: Destination Zero. He is a demolition car driver and a survivor of the South Hill Metroline bombing. He is also the boyfriend of Susan Fries.
Biography
Hal was driving in his car during a demolition race when it crashed and was seriously damaged. Although Hal isn't hurt, he is forced to take his car into an autoshop, the one which is coincidentally owned by Susan. Later, after the two meet up, they decide to take the train in the heart of Los Angeles. As he is about to board the Metroline train, Patricia "Patti" Fuller has a terrible vision of the train exploding and killing everyone aboard. She freaks out in the process and prevents several civilians from getting on when her boyfriend, Will Sax, punches Al Kinsey in the face, almost causing a large fight.
Suddenly, the train explodes, just as Patti predicted, and many of the onlookers are wounded by the explosion. Hal is later brought to a police station and is interrogated along with everyone else who survived the explosion. A few days after the accident, Hal is unable to go to the next demolition race because of all the screaming fans, which reminds him of the subway passengers screaming as they were burning alive after the explosion. Hal's manager, Marty, let him sneak out of the stadium undetected so he could go see Susan, where they have sex later that night.
Hal is the first survivor of South Hill Metroline to die.
Death
The afternoon after spending the night at Susan's house, Hal decides to go dirt-bike riding in the Mojave Desert. He stops his bike once he sees a few tremors and cracks in the ground and immediately turns on his Walkman to see if there are any quakes about to erupt. Hal sighs with relief once he realizes it was only a minor quake and gets back on his bike, despite becoming wary once he notices an eerie-looking hand was formed in the ground due to the tremors. Hal begins to drive in a creek bed, thinking that it is completely dry and safe.
As Hal is driving through the dried creek, he tumbles off his motorcycle once his foot gets caught on a protruding root in the soil. Hal isn't killed by the crash, but the root is entangled around his leg, restraining him. Hal hears what sounds like a truck coming towards him, when it is in fact a flash flood, which washes over him, causing his leg to break due to the pressure of the water, and the root that is still trapping him. Once the root is destroyed as a result, Hal struggles to get out of the river, trying to swim to the surface of the water or climb up the wall of the creek bed, but his bike slams into him and knocks him off the wall. Due to his leg injury and the weight of his helmet, he is unable to escape and drowns.
Signs/Clues
- A tremor occurs in the river and creates several cracks that look like a skeletal hand has Hal in its palm.
- Immediately before crashing, Hal sees a dark shadow appear in front of him.
- Hal feels a cold wind brush down his spine.