Aldis Escobar is a character in the novel Final Destination: Dead Man's Hand. A high school drop-out and waiter employed by The Lady of the Lake, a restaurant at the peak of Las Vegas landmark Merlin's Tower, Aldis has aspirations of making it big in the music business, having started his own band, Trojan, with his friends Marco Silfen, a DJ, and Ellie Stanfield, a pianist.
Early one morning, Aldis, while riding up a guest elevator (which is against employee policy) in Merlin's Tower, is nearly crushed when the doors close prematurely, but manages to survive, with only a groin injury. Trying to get over the pain, Aldis starts listening to his iPod, which occupies him for a few minutes. As he starts moving to the beat, Aldis nearly falls out of the elevator when it briefly comes off its tracks, throwing him against a window, which pops out of its frame. The window falls into the pool below, while Aldis once again narrowly escapes death, slamming into a safety bar (and sustaining yet another crippling blow to the groin).
Eventually, Aldis reaches the locker rooms, where he is chewed out by his foul-mouthed shift manager, Tony Augustino, who blames him for the window popping out and tells him to keep his mouth shut about the incident when Aldis states Tony should be thanking him for knocking the loose window out before some patron, who may not have been as lucky as he was. Aldis and Tony end up getting into a heated argument and trade insults, prompting Tony to begin choking Aldis in a fit of rage. Aldis manages to talk some sense back into Tony, who lets him ago, with Aldis promising to keep quiet, pleasing Tony, who tells Aldis to go on home.
Death
Getting into his car, Aldis grows angry over the Merlin's Tower incident and considers getting a new job as he drives away. As Aldis is lost in thought, the driver of a speeding van, trying to beat the changing light, loses control, swerves and hits the curb with enough force to flip over and land on top of Aldis's car. Aldis is crushed against the steering wheel, shattering his rib cage and causing bone fragments to puncture his lungs, heart and skin, making him vomit blood before finally dying.
Signs/Clues
- After nearly falling out of the elevator, Aldis notices his iPod is playing a goth-style song, one about death and destruction.
- Seconds after noticing the new song, Aldis becomes paranoid and begins to think the elevator purposely tried to kill him, thinking "Maybe that Grim Reaper stalking bullshit had some truth to it" (indicating some knowledge of the disasters that have occurred throughout the series).
- As he lays dying, Aldis is brushed by a breeze blowing through the shattered windshield, making him think that now he finally knows what people meant when they say they've felt like they've been touched by Death.