Breathing Vapor by Cynthia Sax

mixture of male and metal, not knowing how to repair the damage she’d done.
    “The insurgents are regrouping. They have the structure surrounded.” Thrasher’s voice was as ragged as Vapor’s. “The humanoids can’t fight worth a frag but they have numbers. They’ve turned the entire city into a battlefield.”
    Booms echoed. The building shook. White pigment powder fell from the ceiling, coating their hair and skin.
    “Then we find somewhere to wait it out.” Vapor didn’t sound concerned. “Are the safe rooms unoccupied?”
    “They’re full of beings and the insurgents are trying to blast them open as we speak.”
    “The tunnels,” Mira mumbled against her cyborg’s warm skin.
    “What?” Vapor eased his hold on her.
    She gazed up at him. His face was blackened, deep cuts carved into his cheeks and chin. “There are tunnels under the city.” X used them to hide supplies from the Humanoid Alliance. “Few beings know about them.”
    “Thrasher?”
    The cyborg was roughed up also, streaks of red parting his hair. “Scanning.”
    Movement to the right snagged her attention. A male, a being she’d only met once, dragged his body across the floor, forging his way toward them. He had no legs, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
    “That could work.” Vapor nodded. “Where’s the nearest entrance?”
    The male reached out his dirty fingers to her. “Please,” he beseeched her.
    Oh fuck. What could she do? She wasn’t a medic. She didn’t know how to heal him.
    “Mira,” her cyborg boomed and her attention snapped back to him. “Where’s the nearest entrance to the tunnels?”
    “Don’t know.” Her gaze drifted to the pleading male. More beings had joined him. “We need to help them.” They had to reverse the destruction she’d caused.
    “We need to take you to a safe location. Thrasher?”
    “Located it. Sending you the directions.” The cyborg gazed over his shoulder. A flap of skin hung off the back of his skull and Mira’s world wobbled. “They’re trying to enter the chamber again. Go.” He raised his guns. “I’ll cover you.”
    “Hold on.” Vapor ran, grasping her with one arm, shooting with his free hand. Mira tucked herself into a ball, clinging to his sticky neck. He hunched his shoulders, shielding her with his body.
    Gunfire rang out. Vapor turned, shot, sprinted, shot, ducked behind a pillar, released a barrage of projectiles at beings Mira couldn’t see. She gripped him harder.
    He descended ridged ramp after ridged ramp, carrying her as though she weighed nothing. The shooting slowed, then stopped.
    Vapor was a cyborg. The humanoids couldn’t match his speed.
    He continued to run with her. Lighting dimmed and the air cooled. A mustiness replaced the scent of smoke.
    Vapor bent, yanked at a trap door hidden in the floor, flung it open, revealing blackness. “Don’t let go.” There was no ramp, no ladder.
    Mira opened her mouth to point that out. Vapor wrapped his arms around her and jumped. She screamed, the sound muffled against his chest. The fall felt endless, the blackness terrifying.
    His body jerked and he dashed forward, air rushing over them. Vapor turned left, left, right, left. He must be navigating the maze of tunnels. Mira wasn’t certain. She couldn’t see anything. Dust fell from the ceiling. Booms reverberated through the space.
    He slowed. A cringe-worthy creak joined the sounds of battle. “We’ll wait here.” He jostled her. Metal scraped against stone. He grunted. His muscles flexed against her, stretching tighter and tighter and then they relaxed.
    “Can I help?” she whispered.
    “You’ve done enough.”
    Fuck. She had. She whimpered, remembering the carnage she’d caused.
    “Hold it together, female.” Vapor’s voice was gruff.
    There was a thump, thump and an illumination stick glowed, lighting his grim face. He lit three more, placing them around the small chamber. It appeared to be some sort of ancient laboratory. A piece of