"I'm going alone," Leon said evenly. "I'm not joining any team."
For a moment, nobody spoke, like everyone needed a few seconds just to digest what they'd heard.
Adam stared at him, brows knitting together, mouth parting slightly as if he couldn't decide whether to laugh or clutch his head and ask if Leon was serious. Marek, on the other hand, just let one corner of his mouth lift in a short, almost amused smile, the kind you wore when you'd expected exactly this from the start and never once hoped for anything else.
The lecturers exchanged uneasy looks, clearly trying to figure out whether this was courage, stupidity, or something sitting uncomfortably between the two.
Natalia spoke after a beat, fatigue threaded with irritation in her voice.
"Have you completely lost it?" she asked, staring at Leon like he'd grown a second head. "You want to go out alone after all this?"
Leon shrugged, like she'd asked about something trivial instead of his odds of dying.
