YES, IF THIS place had air ducts I could crawl through, maybe I could get out of here without them seeing me. Also, maybe they’d have a working A/C system that would keep me from dying from heatstroke. But bullets were more of an issue right now, and my IT senses were tingling. The server room was on this floor, and the carpeting in this room, and on most of the floor outside the elevator lobby, was hollow, unlike the floors above. That meant there was a raised floor for cabling and conduits. Right beside the power cable box was a networking box. Both went into the floor, so if there was a floor hatch, I’d be able to squeeze under the floor and make my way to the server room. From there, I might navigate back to the stairwell and get out of here.
There were floor panels in every room, at least on the first floor of the bank. Assuming they weren’t bolted in, any of the panels could be lifted, but it would be tricky without a crowbar or a specialized tool. Or, if there was a perforated panel with wide enough ventilation holes. I scanned the floor by the wall and found one. Once I got my fingers through the vents, it was easy enough to open, and there was very little dust. The raised floor was just over two feet high, and it was a tight fit for me. I contorted myself into the cavity, almost getting stuck with my legs in the air. As I twerked myself out of this awkward and vulnerable position, I wondered if I was better off facing the two armed intruders in the hallway. Finally, something in my shoulder clicked uncomfortably, and I was on my back, pulling myself along the floor with the conduits and cables. I left the panel open for two reasons: it was hard to get back in place, and I figured it didn’t matter if they saw it. What were they going to do, come after me? Where was I going?
Where was I going? I tried to bring up the floor plan in my head, but was having problems visualizing it from down here. Also, the light from the open panel didn’t reach very far, so I had to turn on the light of my phone to see anything. After about twenty feet, I realized I could just follow the cabling. We were all heading to the same place.
Once I got to the main cable column, it was just a matter of pushing open the floor panel in the server room. I couldn't figure out an easy way to do that because most of the panels here were bolted down. I had to brute-force it by crouching under it and pushing up. Remember that these panels are supposed to support all things heavy. That included the doughy sysadmins who worked in the server rooms.
After getting the proper leverage, and almost giving myself a hernia, I was able to break it open with a loud crash. They might not have heard it with all the ambient noise, but I wasn't gonna risk it. I needed to get out of here.
Sure enough, there was a slam at the server room door, meaning they had heard me. Not at all surprising, but there was nowhere else for me to go.
After several attempts, they seemed to give up, and I had a quick look around for options. I found one possibility, but it involved climbing up a server rack and getting stuck in a small space again. When they started shooting at the lock, I knew I had to move. So I moved.