The Cost of Breathing - Matthew Petchinsky

In a world where every breath is priced, survival is no longer a right-it's a transaction.

After atmospheric collapse poisons the planet, clean air is controlled by powerful authorities who ration oxygen through fortified districts, leaving the rest of humanity to choke in the ruins. Mira Sol works within the system, maintaining the machines that decide who lives and who suffocates. But when her younger brother is denied access-deemed too "economically insignificant" to breathe-she is forced into a brutal underground world where air is traded for blood, loyalty, and flesh.

As Mira descends deeper into black markets, experimental wards, and the horrifying truth beneath the city's oxygen supply, she uncovers a conspiracy far worse than scarcity: something in the air is alive-and it's been fed by human suffering.

When the system collapses and the air is finally freed, Mira must face an impossible choice: preserve control and let millions continue to suffocate... or unleash something monstrous into the world.

Gothic, visceral, and psychologically devastating, The Cost of Breathing is a haunting exploration of power, survival, and the terrifying question:

What is a human life worth... when even breathing has a price?