The thumbdrive

Well, it looks like stuff happened

Two nonhuman beings appeared. Looking almost like prefectly presentable business people. The door that formed disapated behind them once they stepped in.
"Ah, excellent, they are ready for liberation." The short. one spoke.
"All are done. Very good."
"Let us watch only momentarily while they become liberated."
And with that (oddness) they joined the line of all human kids to where wherever they were going.
...
Whew.
Meanwhile.
I breathed a sigh of relief. The bolts were around me, and I was somehow managing to stay as far away from view, while still holding the grate in place, three bolts had been enough for me to get in, it seemed.
But then of course the last bolt came loose and grate began to fall, I clasped both bolt and grate, just barely with my right hand. But with my arm no longer positoned right the thumbdrive came loose. I made a wild grab with my other hand. Breathing a sigh of relief carefully maneuvering eveything back in with me so they wouldn't fall again. As soon as I did suddenly the wall closed up, I scooched farther down. Extremely alarmed. But nothing more happened. I looked at my "treasures" I had collected so far. A large grate, four screws, a screw driver, and of course, my thumbdrive. I held it up close. I remember using this, just yestersay. My dad driving me to target so i could get the thumbdrive while he picked up some stuff. All the pictures I took at the history musuem and other stuff for my extra credit project. I accidentally transferred all my pictures on my phone to the thumbdrive, because I was such a rush to get everything ready for the field trip. I had planned to fix everything once I got home. But now- I strained my neck looking behind me, seeing nothing but darkness. Now I didn't even if I would get home. Was it even relatively possible? I didn't even know where I was. I could be in space, or another dimension for all I could tell.
The vent continued onward up ahead or behind  me. I could move further into it. For now. An adjacent vent appeared to my right I backed into it, then started my small, slow scoot forward finally. I also made the hard, desicision to bring the grate with me. I definitely wasn't sure if it would be worth all the trouble of uncomfortably hauling it with me. Honestly I wasn't sure of anything. Where did alien-duct-passage-thingy stuff go to? How was it working? This stuff seemed so powerful, but also limited in a strange way.
Eventually I reached a corner, it turned sharply, I contemplated how to go about this. I suddenly heard a noise. I tensed.
But...  it wasn't foreign, I realized. Ot was familar.
And wait,
I heard murmuring, was that my teacher?
I had to know.

As I considered for the first time- repressing for internal panic of the whole situation as well- the weird wall thing and how it had adapted to the grates absence, even my presence. So that meant there was a chance it could adapt to the grates presence.

I pulled the hunk of metal to the front of me forcing it into the wall. The wall took it in. I jumped even though I had considered this, it was still suprising and a bit freaky to see. Shaping around it to fix it. I looked through and found that somehow I had ended up rather close to the floor, pratically touching it. I looked upward, there were grownups, mostly strangers but I recognized one so far. My teacher.
"Huh"
Nevertheless I slipped out quickly into the room taking the grate with me making the hole disappear. The grownups were still waking up, groggy and not quite all there yet. I awkwardly went over to who was the person that was my teacher tapping ms.Randolph by the shoulder. her arms were tight together at her chest.
She jumped at my presence. I knew how she felt, and almost felt sorry for the bomb I had drop on her.  She had no idea what was coming. She probably real lost. But, I had to ask.
"Do you understand what's happening." Please tell me you know something.
"Know what's happening? what are you wearing?" She looked dazed. "Wait." She stood up immediately. "Where's all the other students?? Are they okay?!?!?"
I thought back to empty eyes, the almost visible darkness, the buzzcut.
Eeeeergh.
"I- don't know how to answer that." I responded.
She looked at me worried, which made me worried. To have a grownup know less than me about what was going who knew barely anything."
"Neritessa!!!!! Just tell me what happened." She asked desperately.
And do I did.

I didn't know what good it would do, I didn't know if it would make things even worse. But I told her, about the jumpsuits, about the piles of people's possessions, about the commanding alien voice, about the morphous black glob that came out of the wall and about the darkness I knew she could tell was working, the factory, the buzzcuts, and the vents, I even told her about the thumbdrive which I had almost forgotten. But was safely tucked once more near my elbow. She looked at me, and I looked at her it wasn't a happy face, but it was something.
She sighed. Her arms clenching tighter. "I don't know what happening,but I can think that by somehow seperating us, isolating from our old, their somehow controlling us or at leasting exerting power over for some means to an end."
I nodded. What ever you said authority figure.
"Neritessa I want you to run, or use the vent to hide, do something get somewhere-." She hesitated "safe."
Oof. Safe that was a tall order.
"And, " for the first time she unfolded her arms. "Take this with you. "
It was a turrtle.
Out of everything that had happened. This was probably the most suprising.
I considered how I should respond to this, if i should.
Ms. Randolph sighed. "Just say it ". "Why do you have a turtle?" I blurted out.
"It's a service turtle for my anxiety."
I tried hard to look like I wasn't judging her."
She looked exasperated. I couldn't help it. "You have anxiety? but you're a responsible grownup with a job and super professional andstuff!"
Why do you work with a bunch of teenagers for 7 hours 5 days a week if have anxiety? I thought but didn't say.

"It's not something you can exactly
Control. All types of people have it, even grown ups with jobs. Now go!"

"Wait, what about you? what about everyone, what about your anxiety."

She looked away. "There's nothing that can be down, all the people here are too big to fit. And if what you say is true,"
She looked at me with fake smile, not doing a very good job of hiding her terror.
"I won't be feeling enough to be anxious about it." With that she shoved the turtle in my hands, and took the grate and shoved it into the wall, it formed the vent again.
She nearly stuffed me in too. But I still had to look back, and so did she. She looked sad, and I didn't want to leave and let her and all these people become black misted zombies.
"His name is henry." Then she turned away walking to the mysterious fabric along with everyone else and just like all the people I had been with had.