That's an interesting question, asked with an honest concern that he wouldn't have expected from Jacob. He gives it some thought before answering.

"Not everyone drinks to forget. I've been through enough of that." He takes another swig from the bottle and actually considers the other reason. Before, drinking helped to ease the curse he was shouldering. Now that he's cured, it's different. It's getting through the day. "Sometimes I think about the things I had to do to get here, to get out of the apocalypse, for it to still be... like this."

He doesn't know if that's because he's actively been making it worse, or if his family is cursed. How many decades can he keep believing he can save them?

"This would have been the fifth I've lived through. Sixth if you count the one I haven't seen yet." The one he's told he was resigned to, that he's been grappling with ever since his sister returned. He hasn't had the heart to tell Ben about it. "...I can't tell you what they're like if you're dead. If there were ghosts hanging around back then, I can't imagine anything more depressing."