Driving with Check Engine On

It kinda sucks, I always think my car cant make it up a hill. I drive in the slow lane not because its fun, but so then my engine doesn't blowup. To put stress on my car I became a delivery driver for Papa Johns pizza. I'll drive 30 minutes to drop off a 14 dollar pizza for a 2 dollar tip. One lady said"I hope this is enough" after giving me a $1.50 tip, I almost said"yeah, I'm sure that will pay for my college"(I'm not going to college this semester). I've dropped off pizza's in areas I feel as if a redneck would shoot me(I live in Texas now). Imagine driving 11 at night "in the hood" and every 3 houses down 1 will actually have an address out front. It was a late night and my manager asked to deliver a pizza "in the hood", but I didn't know the area since it was my first week as a driver, so I didn't know what position I was about to be in. As my shitty gps keeps losing signal through the trees I can't see any numbers on the houses, so I improvise and keep turning my phone off and on till it gets a signal. When it finally gets something it leads me to an area where the houses are dark and beatdown. All I see is a bunch of mailboxes packed together and I had to go door to door till I got the right one, feeling as if a shotgun was about to be pressed to the back of my head by a bunch of hillbilly gremlins. I survived and so has my car for the past week, sometimes the light will go away and crush me another day. I live day to day, but I also live a completely different life in Texas. Before, I lived in Huntington Beach with a run on pch every morning. Now I run through hills and trails. On a recent run I thought I saw a wolf running and I thought"Oh shit, what would I do if a wolf attacked me right now" if a wolf came at me I'd try to wrestle it. As I was thinking this over I ran over what seemed to be a bunch of snake holes, same thought popped up. What would I do if a snake charged me? Probably run and scream, but that would give my position away to the wolves. So now I live in Texas reppin the California license plate, watching discovery channel every night before bed, hoping I learn something that can get me through the next day.

Ps
if you encounter a wolf, don't act agressive