Reserves
August 21, 2013.
In a small house in Damascus, a woman was preparing lunch for her children and husband before leaving for school and work.
Their family and the surrounding district despised al-Assad's familial dictatorship and the continued oppression the citizens experienced every day.
The Free Syrian Army fought winning battles against the Assad regime in 2011. Still, the group slowly decayed as more and more extremists poured into the region, diluting their noble cause with Islamists who hated the Jewish neighbors.
The remaining courageous freedom fighters continued harassing Bashar al-Assad's military with the few resources it could deploy and even blockaded an area of Damascus to defend citizens sympathetic to the cause from retribution.
As she packed her family's lunch, she immediately held on to the table as the ground began shaking, but only for a brief moment.